Nest Church

Just as Su Mu was preparing to continue accumulating...

In the capital of Sichuan Province, there is an extremely hidden underground space.

This place is more than 100 meters above the ground, and the surrounding walls are covered with densely packed runes, with a faint blue light slowly flowing through the patterns.

The space is a huge ring, with a diameter of over three kilometers, and a dome hanging high above it, projecting a gray, churning cloud layer.

The assessment dungeons, after countless years of development, are no longer limited to a single fixed location.

Initially, the secret realm could only be opened in one city, and all candidates had to travel a long distance to that city to participate in the assessment.

However, with the gradual stabilization of the secret realm space, the maturity of projection technology, and the continuous improvement of rune arrays, the assessment secret realm can now be projected to various provincial capitals, forming independent projection examination rooms.

The projection examination rooms in each provincial capital are synchronized with the main body of the secret realm.

Everything the test takers experience in the secret realm will be projected in real time into the circular spaces of each provincial capital.

Meanwhile, observers, instructors, and association members from various regions were able to watch the entire assessment process from the nearest provincial capital.

This projection-based examination room in Sichuan Province is one such example.

A wide corridor encircles the outer perimeter of the circular space, with a dungeon master in a dark gray uniform standing every ten meters along the corridor.

They exuded composure, indicating they were all professionals at least level 40 or higher. Further along the corridor, there were numerous armed guards, equipped with standard gear, patrolling the passageways and entrances.

At this moment, in the audience seats inside the circular space, sat hundreds of members of the Dungeon Master Association from all over Sichuan Province, military academy instructors, and observers from various forces.

They watched the candidates' performance on the ancient battlefield through a giant light screen, occasionally whispering among themselves.

Everything is as usual.

Then, the sky darkened.

The projected clouds on the circular dome were originally a uniform grayish-white.

But at that moment, the clouds began to darken from the center, as if a drop of ink had fallen into clear water, and quickly spread outwards. In less than ten breaths, the entire sky had turned into a thick, dark black.

"What's going on?" Someone in the audience stood up.

Is the projector malfunctioning?

"No, this is..." A dungeon master responsible for maintaining the projection exclaimed in shock, "Energy outage! Someone is interfering with the stability of the dungeon!"

Before the words were even finished, more than a dozen figures moved simultaneously in the corridor surrounding the circular space.

Their movements were incredibly fast; they flashed out from behind the guards almost simultaneously, various summoned creatures appearing in their hands seemingly out of nowhere.

Some summoned enormous black dogs, some summoned flying creatures emanating black mist, and some simply pulled out a dark red card. The moment the card shattered, a three-meter-tall bone demon stepped out from the void.

"Enemy attack!" the guard captain roared, drawing his weapon. "It's the Nest Cult!"

But when someone is caught off guard by a well-intentioned attack, it's virtually impossible to defend against.

The dungeon raiders of the Nest Cult had already infiltrated the crowd, some even disguised as guild staff.

They attacked simultaneously, and the outer guards were instantly overwhelmed.

The Bone Demon rampaged, knocking several guards who couldn't react in time away. Black dogs pounced on the stands, causing chaos.

"Protect the people!" someone shouted.

"Quickly call the Dungeon Master Association! Requesting backup!"

A middle-aged man in a gray robe stood up from the audience. He was a vice president of the Sichuan Provincial Dungeon Master Association and a level 60 Second Transcendence.

He immediately activated his own instance, and a gigantic rock giant stepped out of the void, charging towards the instance masters of the Nest Cult.

But the other side was clearly prepared.

A dungeon raider from the Nest Cult took out a jet-black token from his sleeve. The token was engraved with a twisted vertical pupil, the pupil glowing with a dark red light.

He hurled the token violently toward the projection of the secret realm in the center of the circular space.

The token traced a black arc, passing through the chaotic crowd and landing precisely above the projection screen.

"Stop it!" the vice president roared.

But it was too late.

The moment the token landed on the light screen, it exploded into a thick cloud of black mist.

The black mist, like a giant hand, fiercely grabbed towards the interior of the projection of the secret realm.

The projection screen trembled violently, and the previously stable image began to distort and shatter.

The dungeon raiders from the Nest Cult showed no intention of continuing the fight after casting their tokens.

They turned and ran, scattering towards the various exits of the circular space.

"Don't chase! Stabilize the secret realm first!"

"Quickly, shut down the projection channel!"

"It's too late, the Cult Evil Token has already been arrested!"

In the chaos, the vice president led several high-level dungeon masters towards the projection screen, attempting to use dungeon power to seal off the black mist.

But the power of the Cult Evil Token far exceeded their imagination. The black mist not only did not dissipate, but expanded even further, turning the entire projection screen black.

Less than two minutes later, reinforcements from the Dungeon Master Association arrived.

Dozens of dungeon raiders in uniform poured in from various passages, led by an elderly man with gray hair, a peak Second Transcendence player, level 70. He glanced at the scene, his face turning ashen.

"Seal off all exits. Don't let a single one escape." His voice was low and cold. "Contact the proctor in the copy immediately."

Meanwhile, inside the secret realm.

On the floating platform, the proctors were intently watching the candidates' performance on the light screen. Su Mu was still in first place, followed closely by Zhao Wuji, Lin Qingyin, Ye Qingxue, and others. The number of eliminated candidates had exceeded nine hundred, leaving less than one hundred.

Elder Xiu stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calm.

Then his expression suddenly froze.

"You bastard!"

The two words exploded, making the eardrums of all the proctors on the platform buzz. Elder Xiu's figure had already disappeared from the spot.

The group exchanged bewildered glances, still trying to process what had happened. But the next moment, they sensed it too.

Evil Race.

The aura of Evil Race priests from the Nest Church.

The aura emanated from outside the barrier of the secret realm, intense and malevolent, carrying a sense of oppression that sent shivers down one's spine.

That's the power of Third Transcendence cultivator.

"Everyone on alert!" Elder Zhao suddenly stood up straight, and the dark gold token in his hand lit up.

"Protect the test takers!"

"Contact the association headquarters!"

The atmosphere on the platform was tense, with all the proctors simultaneously launching their own instances, causing various lights to explode on the platform.

But before they could rush off the platform, a violent collision sound came from the sky.

Boom...

Boom...

Boom...